Bantwal : Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum Grabbers and Video or Audio Pirates Act (Goonda Act) will be invoked against those who are involved in a series of criminal activities in Bantwal taluk, thereby help in restoring peace in the district, said IGP (Western Range) P Harishekaran

Speaking at a peace meeting on Saturday, he said, “It is a black mark on the district which is considered highly literate. The communal rift has been taking place in the district for the last 25 years. The police are mulling over taking legal action against criminals who are absconding by issuing warrant and also attaching the properties of their parents. Only 0.01% of the population are engaged in disrupting peace in the district. I will give a therapy to the ‘communal cancer’ in the district. I will not arrest innocents during my tenure. If people have any doubt over arrest, they can visit SP or IGP office, to verify the facts.”

Harishekaran said the office of DCIB and Additional SP will be shifted to Bantwal taluk to curb ganja menace and communal clashes in the taluk.

He warned of initiating action against those supporting the criminal activities. A special cyber crime team will be constituted to keep a tab on social media content as there has been an increase in the number of incidents of spreading rumours and sowing seeds of communal violence through social media. The IGP said the deputy commissioner has already given permission for installing high resolution CCTV cameras at strategic locations in Bantwal taluk.

“Following disturbances in the taluk, over 500 police personnel from different parts of the state have been deployed to maintain law and order. The citizens have a greater responsibility in maintaining harmony and work towards development of the district,” he added.

The participants in the meeting urged the authorities to convene a peace meeting every month. The culprits should be arrested immediately, they said and added that owing to the failure of the police, the scuffle among criminals in Bantwal later resulted in the group clash. The participants also said that ganja menace is one of the reasons for youths, in the age group of 14 to 20 years, are involved in criminal activities.

DK SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy, DC Dr K G Jagadeesha and others were present.